Raven Esteed
| image = | race = Enlightened | birthday = August 15 | age = | gender = Male | height = 183 cm (6'0) | weight = 69 kg (152 lbs) | blood type = B | affiliation = | previous affiliation = Seraphim Royal Knights Order of Darkness | occupation = | previous occupation = Commander of Ken's Army Ruler of Amnesia | team = | previous team = | partner = | previous partner = Lilith Lovelace | base of operations = Excelia, Amnesia | relatives = None | education = Unknown | weapon = Daemonium & Levantine Arrivisme & Daemonium (formerly) | element = Gravity | affinity = Last Stand | overdrive = Gae Assail }} Raven Esteed was the former Commander of the Black Brigade (3rd Division) and the Aesir Royal Guard (1st Division) in Ken's Army. Appearance Raven has cold grey eyes and long black hair, which he lets free to hang about the sides of his face. His hair is adorned with intricate hairpieces and he has multiple silver piercings on his ears. Raven wears a black shirt with a high collar which has various silver chains on its edges, as well as more chains attached to the corners. He keeps the shirt's collar open, revealing part of his chest which is marked with various types of runes. Black and gold sashes adorn his waist and shoulders. He dons fingerless gauntlets and wears black leather pants and boots. Fifty years after the Domination, the gold sashes are no longer a part of his attire, and he now wears a single black sash around his waist. Raven also no longer wears his hairpieces. He was noted by Vesper to look no more than thirty years old. Personality History Plot Powers & Abilities Master Sword Specialist: Master Dual Wield Specialist: Raven is presumably one of the most proficient swordsmen in all of the Enlightened world. He is a highly adaptable combatant as his two swords have allowed him to become ambidextrous, meaning that he is able to switch hands between the two swords. Raven usually swings with more strength in his right hand than his left hand; however, he can easily switch or balance the strength between his two hands, much to the surprise of his opponent. Raven states that he only uses Arrivisme in situations where Daemonium is too difficult to use. He claims that he does not use them together on a regular basis. The best example of Raven's prowess is shown from his ability to fight on even grounds with a regular form Amnell, the the leader of the Black Knights, in only his regular form while other members of the Ten have been seen requiring their Affinity against a Black Knight. Raven's fighting style involves evasion and attacking an opponent either in the front or back using the element of surprise to overwhelm them. Master Gun Specialist: Magic Expert: Rune Master: Step Master: Daemonium & Levantine Daemonium & Levantine: :Harmony Special Ability: Affinity Last Stand: By condensing the surrounding gravity, Raven is able to form a sphere of energy around him, which is able to absorb all attacks temporarily, increasing the mass of the sphere, which, when at a heavy enough state, draws surrounding objects, including people, as it slowly expands. Anything drawn into the sphere is disintegrated. The sphere then condenses and disappears as Raven emerges. In this form, Raven is augmented, both aesthetically and defensively, and gains various chains which hang from his wrists and neck, and the color scheme changes from a raven black to metallic gray. Raven's clothing gains an armor-look, although it still is not considered armor. As with most Affinities, he gains a set of energy wings that resemble angel wings, which are capable of flight. The wings can be retracted and hidden away. :Affinity Special Ability: Last Stand allows Raven to manipulate gravity, and he is able to alter its properties, such as making an object lighter or heavier. Raven is able to channel powerful blasts of gravity in the form of beams or spheres from his guns, and is able to manipulate the force of the blast, for example, it can either generate a powerful explosion or weigh down an opponent. He is also able to select an area and condense its gravity and increase the selected area's mass and create a small black hole, absorbing anything in the area into an alternate dimension where the target is crushed. Additionally, Raven is able to create "gravity bubbles" in order to break his fall if he is falling from extreme heights or to avoid injury if he is thrown over long distances. *'Flight Capability': Raven's wings allow him the ability to take flight. While in flight, the wings do not 'flap', instead, they simply act as a sort of throttle to propel him through the air. *'Sword Materialization': Raven is able to materialize Gae Assail back in his hands if they are out of his reach. Overdrive: The special ability of Last Stand, which focuses around the manipulation of gravity. *'Gae Assail' (lit. "The Spear of Assal"): Raven charges his weapon and generates two powerful spheres of gravity from his gun and fires at the enemy. The first blast, which is quite large, causes very little damage; its main purpose is to entrap the enemy in a sphere of gravity that disallows any movement from the person within, readying them for the second blast, which takes the appearance of a small ball of energy, about the size of a marble. When fired into the gravity sphere, the second shot pierces the sphere and disintegrates as it exits out the other side. The trail then becomes a 'spear' and expands, causing a powerful blast contained within the first sphere that expands again then rapidly condenses and dissolves, disintegrating everything inside the initial sphere. :*'Variations of Gae Assail': Raven can fire individual blasts of gravity in the form of spheres, without creating the trapping effect of the first blast. He can also fire the small energy spheres of the second blast individually, without the spear effect. Furthermore, Raven can fire a weaker blast of gravity without a charge sequence in order to surprise his enemies, as well as being able to fire multiple, faster traveling volleys. Any basic shot fired by Raven's weapons is considered a variation of Gae Assail. ::*'Graviton Blade': Raven is able to manipulate Gae Assail to form blades of gravity from the barrel of his guns in order to engage in close combat. The graviton blades can be shot as Gae Assail at any time. :::*'Renzokuken' (lit. "Continual Sword"): At the instant of the slash, Raven amplifies the force of Gae Assail and releases highly condensed energy at the edge of the blade, magnifying the slash attack, and the blast then flies forward. This slash takes the form of a crescent moon or in the shape of a wave. Renzokuken is a powerful technique with great force, capable of causing large-scale damage and destruction. Raven has used this technique in several different manners, such as striking the ground to create an omnidirectional blast to knock away incoming attacks or slashing at the ground to upturn it and crush everything in its path. ::::*'Eclipse': Following a successful Renzokuken, Raven is able to deliver a series of devastating slashes, kicks, and shots with Gae Assail. The attack culminates by Raven piercing the opponent with his swords and switching into gun-mode where he fires a fully-powered point-blank Gae Assail. Eclipse is extremely fast and once the first attack connects, the remaining blows of the attack are unavoidable as the attack continuously pulls the target to Raven due to the gravity properties of his Affinity. The one downside to the attack is if the first hit is parried or evaded, Raven has very little time to react and is extremely vulnerable. Eclipse is Raven's most powerful attack. Second Form Last Stand Second Form: Raven attains this form after giving in to his anger after Lilith's death. He can activate this form at will after his first release. Raven's appearance changes while in second form. In addition to the already present chains hanging from Raven's armor, shackles are now present in this state. He gains armor with several spikes and his wings are condensed into smaller versions of their earlier form. He also gains two large horns on his head that point forward. His overall appearance in this form resembles a demon. :Second Form Special Ability: Last Stand is further enhanced and its abilities are amplified. *'Augmented Gae Assail': Gae Assail's blasts are far more powerful in this state than in their previous incarnation, as seen when Raven fired a rather weak shot that nearly killed an uninjured Luca. The blast radius of each shot is also magnified substantially, able to destroy much of Excelia's downtown district in one volley. *'Enhanced Strength': While in Second Form, Raven has shown that he has greater strength, which he uses to effortlessly block attacks from Thanatos. *'Enhanced Speed': While in Second Form, Raven has shown enhanced speed, which he uses to overwhelm Luca. Former Powers & Abilities Arrivisme & Daemonium Arrivisme & Daemonium: Raven's twin and sister Affinity swords. When sheathed, the bladed part of the swords disappear in a flash of fire and the hilts are stored stored in a compartment on the inside of the wrists of Raven's gauntlets. The blades are identical and are shaped somewhat like scimitars. Arrivisme has crimson highlights and is slightly shorter than a standard sword, whereas Daemonium has purple highlights and is longer than the standard sword. When in Affinity, both of the swords change in appearance, although both still remain identical. The color scheme of both swords change and lose their respective color highlights. The blade itself folds back upwards, with the sharp end facing up, to reveal a barrel used for firing energy blasts. To accomodate the new usage of the weapon, the handle changes into a grip to allow it to be held like a gun. Both guns are referred to as 'Gae Assail' when in Affinity, and are considered a single entity. :Harmony Special Ability: Trivia *''Gae Assail'', although singular, refers to both of Raven's weapons simultaneously. *Raven's Affinity is unique in that it initially changes the function of his weapons. Quotes *(To Amnell Azplynd) "I've found my ... Resolve!" *(To Lithium) "Now you know how it feels to be helpless, like a caged animal. Just like she was when the three of you attacked her. And now you're begging me to spare your worthless life? Try again. You're about to die a very painful death. Pain. You're about to experience more of it than you can ever ''fucking imagine."'' *(To Luca Blite)"You always spoke about justice, how you always 'did the right thing'. Don't be disheartened. You're dying for a just cause. You're dying in the name of that same justice!" *(To Luca Blite) "So what is justice!? Forgiving the person who killed the person you love!? That's wicked! It's inconceivable, disgusting even! Living on in peaceful harmony without avenging your fallen friend is evil!" Battles & Events